A lawyer who represented a “whistleblower” in the impeachment case against President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit after his government security clearance was revoked.
Lawyer Mark Zaid represented a “whistleblower” in the first impeachment case against Trump.
Zaid is accusing the Trump administration of “unconstitutional retaliation” for revoking his security clearance.
The attorney argues that the Trump administration’s decision to pull his clearance in March was in retaliation for representing former Department of Homeland Security intelligence chief Brian Murphy.
Murphy worked with anti-Trump Democrats and was key to the president’s 2019 impeachment.
In 2019, Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Trump, amid his re-election campaign, pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate then-U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine.
The alleged pressure supposedly happened during a call between the two leaders.
However, Murphy was not present during the call and only made allegations based on hearsay.
A transcript of the call was later released to show that Trump didn’t pressure Zelensky, as claimed.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted later that year to impeach Trump for abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress.
He was later acquitted by the Senate.
Zaid’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., claims the decision to rescind his security clearance represents a “dangerous, unconstitutional retaliation by the President of the United States against his perceived political enemies” that “eschews any semblance of due process.”
The complaint accuses the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedures Act, the First Amendment, and parts of the Fifth Amendment.
“No American should lose their livelihood, or be blocked as a lawyer from representing clients, because a president carries a grudge toward them or who they represent,” Zaid said in a statement.
“This isn’t just about me.
“It’s about using security clearances as political weapons.”
The lawsuit cites a 2019 incident in which Trump called Zaid a “sleazeball” at a Louisiana rally and told reporters that the lawyer was a “disgrace” who “should be sued.”
The move to pull Zaid’s clearance was “a bald-faced attack on a sacred constitutional guarantee: the right to petition the court or federal agencies on behalf of clients,” the lawsuit says.
It goes on to claim that an “attack on this right is especially insidious because it jeopardizes Mr. Zaid’s ability to pursue and represent the rights of others without fear of retribution.”
Trump has also revoked clearances of several other political foes believed to have abused their positions, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and his own former national security advisor John Bolton, as well as attorneys at other law firms.
Zaid urged the court to rule that Trump’s revocation decision was unconstitutional and reinstate his clearance.
He has had access to classified information since 1995 and a security clearance since 2002.
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